Ashikabi of Thunder and Lightning
by SeerKing
Summary: Sahashi Takami decides that it is pointless to try and prevent her children from entering the Sekirei Plan and gives Minato a hand in starting his 'flock'. Minato x Harem, starting with Hikari and Hibiki.
1. Lightening Strike, Thunder Roar

**Author's Note: I've always wondered what would have happened if Takami wasn't such a stubborn idiot about her children becoming Ashikabi. This is the result of my pondering.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei.**

"Minato." - Regular Speech

'_Musubi_' - Thoughts

"_**Kaminari!**_" - Sekirei Incantation

**Chapter 1: Lightning Strike, Thunder Roar**

_MBI HQ, __Teitō__ Tower_

_Sekirei Adjustment Section_

Sekirei Number Eleven, Hikari, was sitting upright on an examination table while she watched Sahashi Takami, the Head of the Sekirei Plan, finish examining her twin sister, Sekirei Number Twelve, Hibiki.

At long last.

Hikari was very impatient. She wanted to get out of the damn tower and find the man that she and her sister had been reacting to for a while now and Wing themselves on him, not sit on their asses like a pair of idiots while they were given a 'final check-up' before being released.

Being almost identical twins made the two sisters fairly hard to tell apart. Hikari was the one who generally stood out more with her significantly larger bust, but Hibiki maintained that she had a better ass than her older twin did.

Their personalities were different as well. Hibiki was calm and composed, while Hikari was short-tempered and impulsive.

Other than those minor details, they were exactly identical. Tall and slender young women with long black hair tied into two ponytails and with light hazel eyes. They loved each other dearly and had sworn to have the same Ashikabi so as to not be separated from one another.

Luckily enough, they had both reacted to the same Ashikabi, a man by the name of Seo Kaoru. He was handsome and seemed to be a nice guy. Just about the only thing that troubled the sisters about him was how…weak…their reaction to him was.

From everything they had been told, reacting to an Ashikabi should instantly draw them to the person they were reacting to, like a moth to a flame. With Seo, it was more like a gentle tug to draw their attention.

"Well then, Number 11, Number 12." Takami said as she finished writing down Hibiki's results on her clipboard, "You are both in the pink of health."

"Good." Hikari snapped, "Now can we _please_ have some clothes?"

She gestured down at the thin plastic hospital gown that she and her sister wore. Not only was it unflattering, but it didn't have a back to it. The raven-haired Sekirei had to wonder what kind of perverted human had designed these things.

"Ah yes. Of course." the woman nodded and took out her phone. Sahashi Takami had ash-grey hair and slate-grey eyes and she wore jeans, a light pink shirt and a white lab coat. For a woman who was almost forty, she was still just as attractive as when she was younger.

RIIIIINNNG!

Before the doctor could punch in the full number of the Sekirei Clothing Outfitting Department, her phone began to ring. With a sigh, Takami regarded the Caller ID and gestured for the two sisters to be quiet and not speak. The twins nodded in agreement, so Takami answered the phone and put it to her ear.

"Min-chan? What's up?" Takami asked with a hint of a smile on her face, "You don't usually call at this time."

She listened for a moment to whoever was on the other end of the phone before a frown crossed her face and a dangerous glint entered her eye.

"He did it _again_?!" she hissed, "After the warning I gave him last time, he ended up in hospital. Is he stupid or something? No, don't answer that."

Takami listened again, the frown on her face deepening as she paced back and forth across the length of the room and made the occasional noise to indicate that she was listening. Apparently, she had gotten an idea, as her eyes shifted and locked onto the twins, who were trying and failing to look as though they weren't listening in.

The grey-haired woman then grinned evilly, making the twins wonder what she was plotting and how it would affect them.

"Min-chan, don't worry." she told the person on the phone, "I have a plan in the works. I'll be sending a couple of people around to…_educate_…your landlord. They'll then take you to a special hospital I have some influence at. I can't get away from work until the afternoon, so I'll meet you there, OK? Sit tight and try not to move your arm, got it? Good. See you later, Min-chan."

She ended the call and stared at the phone for a moment.

"Doctor, who was that?" Hibiki asked curiously.

Takami looked at her with a small smile and said, "That was my son, Minato. He needs help and I would like to ask a favour of you two in order to give it to him."

The twins were both curious and wary simultaneously.

"You see, Minato is applying to Shintō Teito University and is in the middle of preparations for his second attempt at the Entrance Exam." Takami explained once she had caught their attention, "Unfortunately, last year, despite all my efforts to conceal the fact, Minato's Landlord, Ondori Takuya, discovered the fact that I am a high-level member of MBI and started putting pressure on my son for more rent money than he could afford as a prep student."

"How much?" Hikari asked.

"Jū-Man-en (A Hundred-Thousand Yen) per week." Takami replied in disgust, "For a pathetic little six-mat room."

The twins gaped in shock. They had been taught the basics of economics just in case they were unwinged for an extended period of time, so they knew the average price for such a small room and it was nothing close to that amount. Moreover, most rented flats and apartments were paid monthly, not weekly.

"Was he trying to evict your son or what?" Hibiki asked in bemusement.

"Probably." Takami replied with a shrug, "Ondori has a grudge against MBI. I don't know what it is and I don't really care. In the end, Minato managed two weeks for payments by emptying his savings, but couldn't make the third week. Ondori got pissed and broke Minato's right arm, the same day that he was supposed to sit his Entrance Exam."

The sisters noticed that her hands were clenched into fists and that an angry flame was lit in her eyes. They silently promised themselves not to get on this woman's bad side.

"Because of that, Minato wasn't able to take the exam and was forced to become a rōnin (unemployed secondary school graduate)." Takami said grimly, "When I found out, I had him admitted to an MBI-controlled hospital and personally went to have a discussion with Ondori-san, during which I made it perfectly clear that a recurrence of such actions would result in a far more…severe…discussion that getting kicked around by me. As you heard just now, he has evidently recovered his courage."

"While this is interesting, doctor, what do you want us to do about it?" Hikari asked bluntly.

"Ondori-san has broken Minato's left arm this time and has evicted him, or tried to at least." Takami replied, "He demanded more money. Min-chan refused to hand any over, barring the amount agreed upon in the lease."

"The man sounds like a slimeball." Hibiki muttered.

"He is." Takami confirmed, "As I told Min-chan, I can't get away from work until this afternoon. Number Eighty-Eight needs a last minute adjustment before she can be released, so I'd like to ask you two to act in my stead."

"HUH!?" the twins yelped simultaneously.

"By that, I mean I'd like you two to beat the snot out of the fat bastard who dared to attack my son again, then take Minato to the MBI Hospital." Takami said with a grin, "You'd be free to find your Ashikabi after that."

"What's in it for us?" Hikari asked.

"The high chance that you will both react to Minato, of course." Takami replied.

"But…" Hibiki said with a frown, "We're already reacting to someone."

"So? Just because you've reacted to one person doesn't mean that you can't react to someone else." Takami replied, "And, while I hate to admit that Minaka-baka has a point with anything, Minato is almost guaranteed to be a strong Ashikabi because he's my son."

"What do you have to do with your son being an Ashikabi?" Hikari pointed out.

"I'm an Ashikabi as well." Takami replied, "I was with Minaka when he discovered the ship and was let in, so I am an Ashikabi. Min-chan is highly likely to be an incredibly strong one as well. I really would prefer it if he wasn't involved in this stupid game of Minaka's, as long as he's in Shintō Teito, he will become an Ashikabi. I might as well make sure his first Sekirei are good ones."

Hikari leapt to her feet with small tendrils of lightning arcing across her body and glared at Takami.

"We're reacting to Seo!" she growled, "We don't want another Ashikabi!"

The grey-haired woman's eyes narrowed at the ravenette. "Seo? As in Seo Kaoru?"

"So what if it is?" Hikari said defiantly.

"…how he manages to give me a headache when he isn't even here is amazing." Takami grumbled, "The one and only reason Seo isn't in prison right now is because he knows too many secrets about MBI. He is being fired as we speak and Minaka has issued a directive that any Sekirei that gets Winged by him has their MBI cards cancelled."

"W-Why?!" Hibiki yelped.

"He's been working against MBI ever since Takehito died." Takami replied, "Gathering dirt on MBI, embezzling company money, defying Minaka…the list goes on. He'd be a terrible Ashikabi, not the least because of his laziness and the immense gambling debts he has."

The twin Sekirei known as the Raiden Futago (Thunder and Lightning Twins) exchange a look that might as well be an entire conversation thanks to their twin bond. Finally, Hibiki turned to Takami.

"Are you certain that we can react to someone other than Seo?" she asked.

"Yep." the Head of the Sekirei Plan replied, "Just like humans can fall in love with different people, so too can Sekirei react to different people. Just for curiosities sake, how strongly have you both been reacting to Seo when he came within, say, a foot or so from you?"

"Barely a small tug." Hibiki replied quietly, "No warmth, no desire, just a small tug."

"Seo, at one point in his life, was probably a good match for the two of you." Takami said, with every visible sign of reluctance, "Now though, that potential is mostly gone, which would explain why you only feel a small reaction towards him."

This seemed to make Hibiki and Hikari think for a moment before the younger sister cocked her head to one side slightly.

"Why us?" she asked, "Why ask us to be your son's Sekirei?"

"His FIRST Sekirei." Tamaki corrected her with a smile, "A number of reasons actually. You were both Adjusted by Takehito, so there isn't any chance of you having less power than the standard he set, thus you'll be able to protect him well. You're both street-smart and quick on the uptake, so you'll be able to adjust rather quickly to The Capital. Above all, you two are genetically identical, so if one of you reacts, chances are that the other one will as well, so Min-chan gets a two-for-the-price-of-one deal."

"We don't _want_ other Sekirei with whoever Wings us." Hikari said moodily.

"The more Sekirei an individual Ashikabi has, the better their chances of surviving to the end of all six stages of the Sekirei Plan." Takami replied, her voice hard and unrelenting at this point, "I assume you remember what happens to Sekirei if their Ashikabi _dies_?"

The sisters flinch at the reminder. The thought of their Ashikabi -whoever it ended up being- dying was bad enough. The fact that that person's death would, in turn, kill all Sekirei Winged by that Ashikabi was enough to make Hikari and Hibiki move closer to each other, just to make sure that the other was still there.

Takami's expression softened. "Look, I know that you want your Ashikabi to yourselves, but a good Ashikabi will be able to make time for all of you."

"This is all presuming that we react to your son in the first place." Hibiki pointed out.

The human woman shrugged. "If you do, you do. If you don't, you don't. It's worth a shot at the very least, wouldn't you agree?"

The twins looked at each other and held another silent conversation with each other for a moment. Then, as one, they looked at Tamaki.

"We'll do it." they said as one.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

_½ Hour Later…_

_Sahashi Minato's Rented Room…_

The young man cradling his arm inside the small, spartanly decorated room was, at first glance, unremarkable. He was good-looking, in an ordinary way. He was slightly too thin, which when combined with his average height, made him look somewhat waif-like. His black hair and slate-gray eyes, inherited from his mother, gave him a laid-back appearance.

All in all, he was someone that one would look at in the street and then move away from. Thoroughly average and thus easily overlooked.

"Well Minato, you've really put your foot in it this time." he mused aloud.

He should have just given the man the money he demanded when he asked, then contacted his mother later and told her what had happened and let her sort the idiot man out like she said she would.

But _no_, he had _had_ to play the tough man, even though he wasn't one. And, once again, here he was with a broken arm right before the exams. Thankfully, it wasn't his writing arm this time, so he could hopefully take his Entrance Exam properly this time…if Ondori-san didn't break his _other_ arm as well…again.

The sound of a car pulling up made Minato's head shoot up in hope. Maybe this was the promised help from his mother. Gingerly, he stood up, taking care not to jolt his arm as he did so, and shuffled to the room's sole window.

Peering out, he gaped as he saw a goddamn _limo_ sitting outside the small apartment complex. Standing right next to it was a pair of regal looking girls dressed in jeans, trainers and t-shirts. Despite the fact they wore ordinary looking clothes, it detracted nothing from how beautiful they were.

"Uh-oh." Minato muttered. There was Ondori-san running out to shout at them. He hated rich people. The small fat man also hated poor people, old samurai families, businessmen, shopkeepers, children, the elderly and pretty much anyone who isn't Ondori-san himself.

Ondori, who had a flat, bald and square head that greatly resembled a misshapen potato, was barely five feet tall. He wore loose trousers and a string vest that did absolutely nothing to hide his distended and rarely washed belly as he waddled out shouting at the girls, one arm being shaken furiously at them in anger.

The looks of revulsion on their faces was enough to tell Minato that not only could they see Ondori-san, they could _smell_ him as well. The scent of overcooked garlic often accompanied Ondori-san.

The girls, who almost _had_ to be twins given how they were virtually identical to one another, pointed their hands at Ondori-san…and blasted him with purple electricity!

"What the…?!" Minato breathed in shock. Ondori-san was flung back several meters, landing with a crash on the ground. He wasn't dead, despite the smoke that rose off of him. His limbs twitched spasmodically before stilling as he fell into unconsciousness.

The two girls gave each other a high-five before looking around. One of them pointed at Minato's room and they both started walking to the stairs.

He just hoped the two weren't going to zap him as well.

_Hikari's Perspective_

"Urgh, that sack of meat smelt awful _before_ we zapped him." Hibiki said with her delicate nose wrinkled daintily, "Now he smells worse!"

"Let's get the kid and get outta here." Hikari replied as she stalked towards the stairs. Takami had told them which room Minato was currently renting…a status that would not last any longer than it took the lawyers Takami had hired to file charges against one Ondori Takuya. Aggravated Assault, Attempted Entrapment, ABH (Actual Bodily Harm) and Breach of Contract would sort him out fairly quickly.

The elder twin was still full of doubts about this. A part of her was still loyal to Seo, damn whatever the older human had told her about him. She also doubted that a nineteen-year-old boy could make her react in a greater way than Seo, a grown man, could.

Hibiki, the calmer twin, was more accepting of Takami's words than her tempestuous elder sister, but even she held her doubts that Minato could make _one_ of them react, never mind _both_ of them. She simply knew better than to voice them aloud like Hikari did.

What puzzled both twins though was the secret little smile that Takami had given them when Hikari had voiced their doubts. Almost as if she knew something that they didn't. It was infuriating that she had bustled around, gotten them clothes, given them the location of her son's apartment and then waved them off, all the while wearing that irritating little smile.

"What's that odd feeling in the air?" Hikari asked suddenly, pausing at the foot of the stairs. Hibiki paused as well. Her sister was right, there was an odd feeling in the air, almost a physical presence, but oddly…not.

If the twins had been forced to describe it, they would have said it was like being near a large bonfire. Close enough to feel, but not close enough to actually warm up.

"Nee-chan, you don't think…?" Hibiki asked quietly.

"It _can't_ be!" the elder twin refuted incredulously, "We couldn't even _feel_ Seo unless he was within a foot of us! There's no way a boy could be so strong that we can feel him from a few meters away!"

"Still, this is…more than I have ever felt with Seo." Hibiki said softly, "Even touching him didn't make me this…warm…inside. I think we should see how it is when we come to within a foot of him, but I am already convinced that this is a good idea."

"How?!" Hikari asked her sister in astonishment.

"For a while at least, we will have him to ourselves, which means we will be his First Sekirei." Hibiki replied, "We'll be able to influence which Sekirei he Wings and hold his highest confidence. I know we wanted to only have each other as our Ashikabi's Sekirei, but once we Wing ourselves on him and Emerge, his power will become like a Sekirei magnet."

Hikari found herself unable to voice any words of protest against any of her younger twin's points. It was true that, with every Sekirei an Ashikabi Wings, that Ashikabi's power will increase accordingly, more so if the Sekirei that are Winged are both willing and reacting to the Ashikabi. The sheer amount of power that she was sensing would make sense if the Sekirei Plan was in the Second Stage, but the First Stage had only just begun.

'_Takami-sensei must have had children with another Ashikabi. There's no other explanation for this ridiculous level of power_.' Hibiki considered as she and her sister slowly climbed the steps to Minato's room, the feeling of heat and power growing more and more with every step, '_I've never heard of a selective breeding program in humans for the Sekirei Plan, and Takami-sensei definitely doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would have children for such a reason…maybe it is just a coincidence?_'

She shook her head in an almost unperceivable way. It actually didn't matter whether it was intentional or a pure coincidence. The end result was that, standing outside the door of Takami's son's rented room, she and her sister were barely able to stand from the feeling of power that they could sense from within the room.

Shakily, Hikari banged twice on the door. "Sahashi Minato! Your mother sent us to take you to hospital! Get out here!"

"Hikari!" Hibiki scolded her.

"Shush it you!" Hikari barked back.

The creak of the door opening drew the sisters from their argument. The cautious way that he regarded the both of them told the twins he had been watching out of his window when they had 'educated' his landlord.

"Errr….hi!" he said with a nod of his head, "Thanks for doing this."

The wince that accompanied this wasn't lost on the two Sekirei. Hibiki took charge.

"What part of your arm is broken?" she asked.

"My forearm." Minato winced, "Not my brightest idea."

"Let's see." Hibiki gently touched the arm in question, "Yep. A surprisingly clean break by the looks of it. Let's get you to the hospital so we can get you sorted."

"Right." he nodded, "Should I bring my stuff, or should that wait until later?"

"Bring it." Hikari said shortly. She was exercising all of her considerable self-control so as not to accidentally injure the boy further by gabbing him and Winging herself on him. Although the vitality boost would help him, it might also make his arm set at an awkward angle, meaning it would have to be re-broken and reset.

As Minato turned around to grab his bag, Hibiki threw a knowing look at her sister before grabbing the bag from the boy who would very shortly become their Ashikabi, citing that he shouldn't put stress on an injured body.

Hikari just huffed. She knew that Hibiki was feeling the exact same thing that she was -hell, probably even more so because she'd come into skin-to-skin contact with him!- yet she wasn't showing any signs of discomfort or desire.

'_She always was better at controlling herself than me._' the eldest twin bemoaned in mild irritation.

"Wow." Minato looked at Hibiki in a mix of awe and respect, "You're pretty strong."

She had a rucksack on her back and two suitcases in her hands, which were presumably full of the young rōnin's clothes and other things.

"I'm somewhat stronger than the norm, Minato-san." Hibiki replied demurely, "Now, we should be moving. That broken bone won't heal itself."

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

**Next Chapter: Wagtails and Wings**


	2. Wagtails and Wings

**Author's Note: hello and welcome to Chapter 2.**

**I have put a poll up on my profile regarding who gets into Minato's 'Flock', so if you haven't voted yet, go to my profile and vote!**

**Read and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei. If I did, the manga would be released in English already.**

"Minato." - Regular Speech

'_Musubi_' - Thoughts

"_**Kaminari!**_" - Sekirei Incantation

**Chapter 2: Wagtails and Wings**

_Limo, En-Route to MBI Hospital_

The silence in the back of the limousine was more than slightly uncomfortable for Hikari and Hibiki, for multiple reasons. For one, they wanted to Wing themselves on their Ashikabi, who was sitting not a foot away from them.

For another, Sahashi Minato was eying them warily. Obviously, he was still a bit wary of the pair of them after watching them blast his former Landlord with purple electricity.

Deciding that an attempt to break the ice had to be made, Hibiki cleared her throat. "Minato-san is your arm alright?" she asked.

"Eh? Oh…yeah." Minato nodded, "It's just throbbing dully right now. I guess breaking my other arm last year hurt so much because it was the first bone I'd ever had broken. This is…bearable, if barely."

"Did the pig ever say why he's trying to extort so much money out of you?" Hikari asked abruptly.

"He…Ondori-san used to own a lot of apartment buildings all over Shintō Teitō." Minato replied hesitantly, "MBI used bylaws and Health and Safety laws to have most of them closed up by the Government. Those that weren't closed by those laws, Ondori-san had to fix them up, which…pretty much bankrupted him. He had to sell them off until the building back there was the only one he had left."

"So he's bitter and he tried to get his money back by extorting you." Hibiki sounded disgusted, "What a pathetic excuse for a human."

"I wish I could argue otherwise, but my arms would beg to disagree." Minato said with a wry smile that had the twins subtly rubbing their thighs together.

"So…can I have your names?" he continued with a moment's pause.

"Ah…sorry about that." Hibiki felt like an idiot. They hadn't even introduced themselves to their almost-definite Ashikabi, "I am Sekirei Number 12, Hibiki. And this is my onee-san, Sekirei Number 11, Hikari."

"Sekirei?" Minato asked in confusion.

"We are, to put it simply, aliens." Hikari said shortly, "Well, 'alien' for a given value of the word; barring Numbers 00 to 09, we were all just eggs when we crash-landed on earth. We aren't human though, that much is true."

"There are 108 of us, not including Number 00." Hibiki explained, "The higher the number, the older and more powerful the Sekirei. The Single Numbers are many times more powerful than most of the rest of us. All of us possess enhanced strength, stamina and endurance compared to a human. Some of us have the ability to control the elements. You…saw my sister and I use our element back there."

"Electricity." Minato nodded.

"We prefer to think of it as _lightning_." Hikari said grumpily, "But yes. Unfortunately, my sister and I need to touch one another in order to use our power, so we need to have the same Ashikabi."

"Ashikabi?"

"One of the things that make us different from humans, powers aside is our ability to select our mates." Hibiki blushed slightly as she got to the root of the matter, "On a purely genetic level, we are perfectly compatible with humans and can have children with them. On a spiritual _and_ physical level, we…react…to someone who is a match for us. The higher the compatibility, the more powerful the reaction."

"For a Sekirei, we only have one mate, for the rest of our lives. By kissing our chosen Ashikabi, we 'Wing' ourselves on them." Hikari continued, "By doing so, we bind ourselves to the Ashikabi, mind, body and spirit. From that moment on, we can never even consider touching another Ashikabi in a romantic fashion."

"Are…there many Ashikabi?" Minato found himself asking.

"More than you might think." Hibiki replied, "Humans are very genetically compatible with Sekirei and vice versa. The ratio of Ashikabi to Sekirei is at least 3:1, according to MBI."

"Wow. So…have you found your Ashikabi yet?" Minato asked as he took this all in.

"We…thought that we had." Hikari said slowly, "But…we've started reacting a different Ashikabi."

"Eh? Is that possible?" Minato seemed taken aback.

"We though it wasn't possible ourselves." Hibiki said smoothly, "But apparently, we can react to multiple Ashikabi. To go by nature's laws, we should choose the Ashikabi who we have the strongest reaction to, and our reaction to the first one was…well, to put it bluntly, the first person is like a lit match. The new person we're reacting to is like a blazing bonfire by comparison."

"There's such a large difference?" Minato asked curiously.

"Pretty much." Hikari said with a shrug that did interesting things to her cleavage, making Minato flush red as his eyes automatically followed her movement before he forced himself to look away.

Hikari was a little smug that she had made him react like that. Obviously physical compatibility wasn't going to be a problem. She had noticed him sneaking glances ay Hibiki as well, so this was all good.

"Of course, we wouldn't Wing ourselves on someone we didn't like, regardless of how much we reacted to him, but since we've met him, I think we can safely say that that isn't an issue. Wouldn't you say so, Hibiki?" Hikari said with a small smile at Minato.

"Mmmmm…I agree, nee-san." Hibiki said wearing a matching smile.

Minato was completely inexperienced when it came to the nuances of the fairer sex. His mother and little sister were not the typical examples of females, both of them being capable of beating up groups of thugs with absolute certainty, as well as being domineering, stubborn and hardheaded.

He did, however, have a fairly intelligent mind and a sharp intuition. Therefore, the fact that the two of them looked at him in a hungry way as they said that made two and two add up in his mind.

"Err…correct me if I'm wrong…" Minato said hesitantly, "But…by any chance are you reacting to me?"

The twins' eyes widened slightly as he said that. Takami had warned them that he was sharp, but this was surprising. She had also warned them that he was as dense as concrete when it came to insinuations, so they had bee using some pretty obvious ones, but he had picked up on them pretty quickly.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Hibiki said carefully, "It is currently taking all of our self control to not Wing ourselves on you as we speak."

"But…I'm no one special." Minato protested, "I'm just…me."

"An Ashikabi's origin has no bearing on their power, Minato-san." Hikari said pointedly, "What does is their genetics, and you have at least one Ashikabi parent: Takami-san."

"Eh? My mother's an Ashikabi?" The surprise on his face was very obvious, "But then…why didn't you react to her?"

"Because, while we may be bisexual, we prefer men over women." Hibiki said, "Yes, sexual orientation, on both sides, has an influence on whether we react or not to an Ashikabi. Most Sekirei are women who are bisexual, but strongly favour men. A few out-and-out lesbians, but most of us would prefer the touch of a man rather than the touch of a woman. There are only a few guys and most of them are straight as well."

"Huh…" Minato wasn't surprised by most of this information. It would make sense that the preferences of both parties would be taken into account when you were talking about a species that mated for life.

"I have to say that the fact you made both of us react took me by surprise." Hikari added, "I mean seriously, the only other person to make us react in even a small way was a fully grown man, so we-"

"_You_, not we." Hibiki put in, "_You_ were disbelieving that a kid -no offence, Minato-san- could possibly make one of us react, let alone both of us. And look at us now. All he'd have to do is crook his finger once and we'd be Winged."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Hikari grumbled, "Rub it in why don't you?"

"I plan on it…Hi-chan." Hibiki smirked, using her old nickname for her elder twin.

Hikari slumped. "Great."

Minato grinned a bit at the interplay between the sisters before he became serious again. "I…this is a lot to take in. Do you mind if I talk to my mother before we…settle anything?"

"Of course." Hibiki nodded, "Just remember something…we only have so much willpower and that is greatly helped by the fact you are injured and we don't want to hurt you. Once the injury is healed however…that incitement will be gone and we will not be able to hold ourselves back for long."

"It takes months for a broken bone to mend though." Minato pointed out.

"Ah, but MBI has developed some interesting technologies for rapid healing, based off of technology found on the Sekirei Mothership." Hikari replied knowingly, "Plus, when the doctors finish up their part, we can Wing ourselves on you, which gives you a vitality boost, as well as speeding up your natural healing process."

"OK, that sounds useful." Minato acknowledged, "Just let me think about it, OK?"

"Sounds fair." with that, the sisters sat back on the limo's seat and waited for the vehicle to arrive at the MBI hospital.

Things were getting interesting.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

_Afternoon_

_Adjustment Labs, MBI HQ, Teitō Tower_

"Well now Musubi-chan, all of your vitals check out." Takami said. She was standing in front of a slender, but large-busted, bubbly young woman wearing a sketchy version of a Miko's outfit, as well as red gloves and black boots. She was practically vibrating on the spot with energy as she listened to Takami,

"Can I go out and find my Ashikabi-sama now, Takami-sensei?" she asked eagerly.

"Yep." Takami wasn't surprised when that simple word made Musubi jump around like a kid on raw sugar in glee.

"Thank you, Takami-sensei!" Musubi squealed in joy.

"Calmly does it, Musubi-chan." Takami smiled, "As it so happens, the hospital you are to be released from is where my son is being treated, so we'll be making a quick detour to his room before you are released."

"Takami-sensei's son?" Musubi tilted her head to the side cutely, "Is he OK?"

"A broken arm." Takami had to restrain herself from glaring, as the Raiden Sisters had more than likely zapped the man to within an inch of his life long before now, so she put it out of her mind. "He's an Ashikabi so he's being treated at the MBI hospital."

"He's an Ashikabi-sama?" Musubi's eyes lit up, "Who is his Sekirei?"

"Number 11 and Number 12." Takami said as she led the excitable Sekirei to the garage, stopping off on route to grab the Twins' MBI cards, as well as Musubi's card. "Rather, he's _going to be _their Ashikabi. They doubted me, but if he doesn't make them react, I'll be very surprised. He does have a broken arm though, so they'll hold off until it's healed before pestering him to Wing them."

"Why wouldn't he Wing them in the first place?" the brown-haired Sekirei asked as she frowned cutely.

"Likely, he wants to ask me if it's alright with me for him to Wing them." Takami sighed, "He's a good kid, but both I and his sister are fairly…domineering. He hasn't had much in the way of confidence because we keep pushing our own opinions onto him. Hopefully getting the Raiden Futago as his Sekirei will give him a bit of backbone…he'll need it."

"Why?" Musubi asked as they got into a limo.

"Those two need a firm hand; otherwise they'll push him around." Takami replied, "They'll be more subtle about it than me or Yukari would be, but it would happen nevertheless."

"Musubi doesn't really get it, but I'd like to meet your son." Musubi said with a smile, "What's his name?"

"Minato." Takami smiled internally. Hook, line and sinker.

The two spent the trip to the Hospital chatting about the Sekirei they both knew, which was quite a few. Asama Takehito, the Head of Sekirei Adjustment, had died a few years ago, leaving the vast majority of the Sekirei unadjusted.

Hiroto Minaka, the Director of MBI, promptly dumped all of that responsibility onto Takami's shoulders. She was at least vaguely familiar with the Sekirei that passed through her hands, but a few stood out, like Musubi, because they were something special.

Musubi had been one of the two Sekirei that had been kidnapped by a foreign nation, possibly America, and taken to an island for study. Minaka had ordered that the Discipline Squad be dispatched. Of the two members of the Disciplinary Squad dispatched, only one returned, with both Musubi and Kaho in tow.

"Takami-sensei, we're here!" Musubi said excitably.

Takami shook her head at herself for dwelling on memories as she acknowledged the bubbly Sekirei and stepped out of the limo. Walking through the Hospital to the High Security Ashikabi Section, the two were eyed furtively by all red-blooded males in the vicinity.

"I'm looking for Sahashi Minato." Takami said to the first nurse she came across in the Ashikabi section.

"Room 5." the nurse said.

"Are there any Ashikabi here other than him?" Takami asked just to be safe.

"No ma'am."

The two walked on, and Takami noticed that Musubi was becoming flushed and was also panting slightly. A small grin flashed across Takami's face at this. Either Minato had Winged Hikari and Hibiki already or he was a far more powerful Ashikabi than even she had imagined.

"T-Takami-sensei…I feel…hot!" Musubi panted out, "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you, Musubi-chan." Takami soothed her, "You're just reacting to your Ashikabi."

"My…Ashikabi…?" Musubi looked happy, in a slightly drunk way.

"Yep. Now, walk this way…" Takami steered the tottering Fist-type Sekirei towards Minato's room. Judging by this, she must have a _really_ high compatibility with her son.

She knocked on the door of room five and entered and was treated to the sight of Hikari and Hibiki practically anchoring themselves to their seats to stop themselves from jumping her son's bones.

"Ta-Takami…thank god!" Hibiki gasped.

"Any trouble with Ondori?" she asked the twins.

"Fried the bastard." Hikari said tightly, "Now please talk to your son so he will Wing us, please! And who's that?"

"Musubi, Number 88." Takami introduced the staggering Sekirei, who was staring at Minato, who was lying on the sole bed in the room and gazing at his arm in disbelief, "Min-chan, I see the doctors have fixed you up nicely."

"Kaa-san?" Minato jerked his head up, "Um, yeah…it's amazing. It actually only took a couple of hours to fix…the medicine here is amazing…"

"It is rather." Takami agreed, "Now, why in the name of sanity haven't you Winged these girls? Holding themselves back isn't healthy for them, you know."

"You mean...it's _alright_ with you?" Minato asked in acute disbelief.

"That was actually the reason I sent them, rather than men in black suits." Takami explained, "I knew that you'd be an Ashikabi because I'm one, so I decided to help you out with my first two daughters-in-law."

"Daughters-in-law?!" Minato spluttered, "First two?!"

"Winging a Sekirei is the equivalent to having a marriage ceremony." Takami said in amusement, "As to the last, why do you think Musubi here is staring at you like that? She's reacting to you as well."

Seeing the surprised face on her son, she grinned. "What, did you think that Winging Hikari and Hibiki would be the end of it? No, the more Sekirei you Wing, the more powerful your… Ashikabi 'aura' becomes, thus allowing you to Wing more powerful Sekirei. Not that any of the Sekirei are weak, but there are some that stand head and shoulders above the others."

"The Single Numbers, right?" Minato stated.

"Exactly." Takami nodded, "There are powerful Sekirei outside the Single Numbers of course, but they are few and far between. Anyway, you have my blessing to get married to these three, so hurry up and Wing them!"

"By…Kissing them?" Minato asked, as he blushed at the longing stares that the three Sekirei were giving him.

"Membrane-to-membrane contact via the lips." Takami said with an evil grin, "Or, to put it more plainly, a kiss on the lips."

Minato flushed bright red. "EH!?"

"What did you expect?" Takami was glorying in her son's discomfort, "I did say it was like a wedding. 'You may now kiss the bride', get it? Or 'Brides' in this case, I suppose."

"Even if you say that…" Minato had calmed down slightly, but he still looked like a tomato.

"Minato-san…" The twins had snuck up on him while his mother had distracted him. Flanking him on both sides, they crawled onto the bed and approached him. Having two beautiful women crawl towards him like that made Minato's blush return full force. He also unconsciously leaned towards them.

Takami grinned like a clown. Most people thought the whole 'Winging' phenomenon was something that only affected the Sekirei. Takehito had theorised that it could also affect the Ashikabi if the reaction, and thus the _compatibility_, between the Sekirei and Ashikabi in question was high enough.

In this case, Minato was just as attracted to the Raiden Futago as they were to him, which caused his hidden instincts as an Ashikabi to subtly push him into Winging them.

'_Wh…what's going on…I feel…hot…_' Minato thought dizzily. He could feel an aura of power in the air, drawing him closer to the girls. A part of him, the part that feared his mother, was trying to assert control and stop this from continuing.

A larger part, the part that had defied her and chosen to come to the New Capital to apply for Shintō Teitō University, was having none of that and urged him to kiss them. Hell, his mother was encouraging this, so why not just go for it?

His mind made up, Minato didn't resist when the lips of Hikari and Hibiki planted themselves on his own at exactly the same time. A pale purple glow played over the three before, from the Sekireis' backs, a pair of identical symbols emerged. It was of a Katayoku no Tori (One-Winged Bird), presumably a Wagtail, with a Yin and Yang beneath it, flanked on either side by two magatama.

With a cry of what must be ecstasy, or possibly rapture, a pair of wings burst forth from both of the twins and spread across the room before fading into nothing once again.

"Wow…" Minato breathed. That had to be one of the most amazing things he had ever seen.

The twins cuddled into him and sighed in happiness.

"Our Ashikabi, from this day forth." Hikari muttered with a rare smile on her face.

"Let the heavens resound with our light and sound, until the end of time." Hibiki said happily.

Takami was watching with a proud smile before she frowned. If Minaka was as punctual about giving his usual introductory speech as he usually was, he ought to use the MBI network to show up any second now…

"_Greetings, Sahashi Minato!_" blared from the small TV at the foot of the bed, which at unilaterally turned itself on, the screen showing a grey-haired man wearing dark sunglasses, a white suit and an equally white high-collared cape.

…right on schedule.

"Minaka, shut up will you?" Takami growled as she stepped in front of the TV.

"_Ara, Takami-kun._" Minaka wasn't surprised to see her there, which was irritating. He had probably been informed of everything she had said and done since this morning, the stalking voyeur. "_Checking up on your injured son? How very maternal of you. I trust your lawyer will prosecute Ondori-san to the limits of the law for breaking Minato-kun's arm._"

'_Smug bastard._' Takami thought as she replied, "Yes he will be. Now, I'll give the introduction to my son, if you don't mind."

"_I suppose you'll be obdurate about this, won't you?_" Minaka asked rhetorically, "_Very well. As Minato-kun has no place of residence as of this moment, I will be sending Hikari and Hibiki's clothing to his hospital room. It should arrive shortly. And…is that Number 88? Long time no see, Musubi-chan!_"

"It has been a while, Hakase (Professor)!" Musubi chirped faintly. She was kneeling on the floor, panting slightly.

"…_As it seems that Minato-kun will be adding you to his 'Flock' momentarily, I'll have your clothes sent along as well._" the Director of MBI concluded, "_I must compliment you on your taste, Minato-kun. The Raiden Futago AND Musubi-chan in a single day? I look forward to seeing which Sekirei you Wing next._"

"Err…thank you?" Minato didn't know how to respond to that last remark. It sounded like a compliment, with an underlying current of amusement at Minato's expense.

"Arigato, Hakase!" Musubi called.

"_Very well then. I must be off now, so Takami-kun, you make certain to tell Minato-kun all of the details of the Sekirei Plan._" Minaka said with an admonishing finger wag in Takami's direction, making the gray-haired woman snarl before executing a perfect heel drop kick on the TV.

{Beep-be-be-Beep!}

Takami took out her phone and scowled at the message.

'_The cost of replacing that TV is coming out of your pay check, Takami-kun._

_;-}_

_Minaka._'

"Cocky sonofabitch." Takami said lightly, "Now then. Daughters-in-law #1 and #2, kindly make way so Musubi-chan can Emerge."

Flushing at their new titles, the twins very reluctantly withdrew from their new Ashikabi and stood to one side while Musubi made her way to Minato. Judging by how shaky Musubi was, Takami guessed that adding two Sekirei at once had made Minato's Ashikabi 'aura' skyrocket in strength.

"Mi-Minato-san…" Musubi barely made it to the bed before she collapsed. Minato automatically reached out and caught her before she hit the bed, his touch making the brown-haired Sekirei's heartbeat skyrocket. Minato wondered at how soft Musubi felt before she put her arms around his neck.

"Minato-san…I'm…sorry that…we don't know each other well…but…I _can't take it _anymore…!" Musubi panted out before she darted in and softly pressed her lips to the man who was her Ashikabi.

This time a soft, light pink aura played over the Sekirei and Ashikabi. Takami, sharp eyes locked onto where Musubi's Sekirei Crest emerged from, saw the faint outline of another one underneath it, with a small silvery-white aura around it as well.

With a joyful cry of rapture, Musubi's pink wings sprouted from her Crest, and the concealed Crest also shot out small wings to signal that it too had been winged.

'_Yume…looks like even as a Sekirei Tama, you can still get an Ashikabi, thanks to Musubi…_' Takami thought with a smile as the wings of light faded.

"My Ashikabi-sama…" Musubi snuggled into Minato, "Our fists are joined as one. Let them protect each other until the end of time…"

"Whew…why is it so hot in here…?" Hikari muttered. Hibiki nodded.

"It's the backlash of Musubi's Winging resonating down Minato's link to you both." Takami informed them both, "Your link with him seems to be very stable and strong, despite the short period of time that you have been Winged. Must be because Min-chan's power is so powerful."

"I'll say." Hibiki said with a shiver, "From a foot away, it was like we were standing next to magma. We _had_ to be Winged by him. It was all that we could think about."

"Fair enough." Takami grinned, "Well Musubi-chan, how do you feel?"

"The best I've ever felt!" the Fist-type Sekirei replied dreamily, "Minato-sama's power is amazing~!"

"You'll gradually adjust to it until you're accustomed to it." Takami grinned again, "Now, off you get and sit in a chair. Min-chan has to be filled in about the Sekirei Plan and having a cute wife like you draped all over him isn't going to help his concentration any."

Pouting slightly, Musubi stood up and bowed slightly to Minato before sitting in one of the nearby chairs. The sisters sat next to her and nodded at her.

"Well then. Where to begin…?" Takami mused as she grabbed the last free seat and sat in it, "Well, I'm assuming Hikari and Hibiki filled you in a little on Sekirei in general?"

At Minato's cautious nod, Takami continued, "Well then, Sekirei 101. First off, grab these."

She threw three cards at Minato, who caught them with slightly more grace than she'd expected. "Not a bad catch, Min-chan. Those are special MBI Unlimited cards. An important fact about Sekirei is that they have a far larger appetite than a regular human does. A 'Sekirei-sized' helping is about three times the size of a regular human-sized helping. These cards are to offset the food expense incurred, as well as for clothes and the like."

"And I have _three_ of them." Minato shook his head in amazement.

"It'll help you buy a house." Takami said with a shrug.

"These are really Unlimited?" Minato checked.

"Pretty much. If not enough is being judged to be being spent on things for your Sekirei, they could be cancelled." Takami said with a thoughtful look on her face, "I've cleared the whole house thing with Accounting, so no problems there. I even have one picked out for you, a place in the northern area of the New Capital."

"Wow…thanks Kaa-san." Minato was stunned at this generosity.

"Only complication is, you'll have to share it with Yukari." Takami watched in amusement as her son paled at this.

"Yukari?" Hibiki asked curiously.

"My daughter." Takami said with a shrug, "She got accepted into Shindong Women's University just yesterday, although she doesn't know it yet. I'm going to make her live with you for the sake of safety."

"Oh yeah, Yukari's an Ashikabi as well, isn't she?" Minato realised, "Wait, how'll I explain having three women living with me?"

"Ah. That is tricky." Takami nodded sagely, "You see, MBI has just begun something called the 'Sekirei Plan'. Releasing all 108 Sekirei into Shintō Teitō to look for their Ashikabi is the first stage. When 90% are Winged, the Plan moves to Phase 2. Essentially, this is an immense survival tournament based in the capital. Secrecy is paramount and you aren't allowed to tell anyone not involved about it. If you do…yeah, just don't do that."

"O….K?" Minato said slowly, "What should I tell Yukari though? You know what she's like about girls with big busts."

"She _still_ does that?" Takami face palmed.

"Yep." Minato replied wryly.

"Ano…what is it that she does?" Musubi asked innocently.

"She grabs the breasts of any woman who has a bust bigger than herself." Takami said dryly, "I'm not sure if it means she's bisexual or if she has breast-envy. This means that Hikari and Musubi are almost certain to be victims."

"A human has bigger breasts than me…" Hibiki muttered with a dark cloud hanging over her.

"Her bust is an 81. You are a 79." Takami said helpfully, "The difference isn't that much."

"You look fine as you are, Hibiki." Minato added with a smile.

"Y-You think so?" Hibiki brightened up at this compliment from her Ashikabi. When he nodded in confirmation, Hibiki very visibly preened as she sat up straighter in her seat.

"Smooth." Takami said to her son, "It helps that _is_ what you think as well. Anyway, regarding Yukari. I think if you admit to being in a relationship with the twins here, she ought to buy it. It isn't a stretch to imagine that a pair of identical, same-gender, twins would have similar tastes in men. It also has the novelty of being the truth."

"And Musubi?" Minato asked.

"A friend of the twins who needs a place to crash after moving to the New Capital." Takami said promptly, "Also true. You're just omitting that the friendship is fairly new and that you have a relationship with her as well."

"That feels…kinda wrong." her son admitted, glancing at Musubi, "She is my Sekirei as well. It isn't right I have to lie about the fact we're together as well."

"Minato-sama…!" Musubi was touched by this admission, "If it is to help you, Musubi doesn't mind it."

Takami looked proud of her son for admitting that excluding one of his 'wives' from the relationship seemed wrong. "That's the right attitude to take, Minato. It is only until she Wings a Sekirei of her own, so don't worry about it. You can come clean to her about it. Even better, Musubi-chan, as a Fist-type Sekirei, is more than capable of stopping Yukari from sticking her foot in your face."

"Yeah…that's a point." Minato sweatdropped at that. Yukari could get very temperamental about people lying to her about pretty much anything. Her automatic reaction is to kick the subject of her ire into submission.

"Listen, I have to go now." Takami said as she stood and checked the clock, "Here's the address of the realtor who has the house reserved for you. Give him this letter, then one of the Twins' cards to pay for the house."

She passed the letter and note to Hibiki, who tucked them into her pocket.

Minato examined the MBI cards. Two had a pair of crossed lightning bolts in the bottom left corner. The one that was Musubi's had a clenched fist over a Yin and Yang symbol in the same place.

"Right." he nodded, "Um…will the house have furniture?"

Takami blinked. "No, I don't think so. You'll have to check the place out before going furniture shopping. Make sure you get a big bed for your wives."

"KAA-SAN!" Minato yelped in embarrassment. Hikari and Hibiki flushed red as well. Musubi had a question mark floating over her head as she looked slightly bemused.

"Heh. You don't have to worry about them getting pregnant either." Takami continued, "MBI gave them a drug before releasing them that prevents conception for about a year. If, by some miracle, the Sekirei Plan continues for longer than a year, they'll be recalled to have the drug re-administered to them. Enjoy."

With that, Takami made her way out of the door, smirking at the mortified expression on her sons face and the bright red faces of two of his other wives.

'_Not to self: Sit down with Musubi to explain the facts of life to her._' Takami thought idly as a pair of men in black suits carrying boxes walked past her, '_Other than that, Operation Embarrass-Son-to-death-in-front-of-his wives was a complete success. Hehehe…I wonder how long it'll be before I'm a grandmother…?_'

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

_At the Same Time_

_Izumo Inn, Northern Area of __Shintō__Teitō_

"Miya-tan." a tall redhead wearing glasses said as she popped her head into the kitchen of the Inn. She wore what loosely resembled a cream-coloured Chinese cheongsam.

"Matsu?" the subject of the redhead's conversation, a purple-haired woman dressed in a white haori and purple hakama. The two were very beautiful, despite their casual attire.

"Sahashi Takami has manipulated her son into joining the Sekirei Plan." Matsu said quickly, "He's already Winged Numbers 11, 12 and 88. From what I was able to observe, he is an immensely powerful Ashikabi and with three Sekirei adding to that, he is a veritable Sekirei magnet."

"Did he forcibly Wing them?" Miya asked quietly. She had been chopping vegetables for sukiyaki and she unconsciously altered her grip on then knife as if she held a sword instead.

"No, that's it. He actually attracted them just by being _near _them." Matsu said in mild wonderment, "Number 88 practically climaxed when he winged her, he's that powerful."

"I fail to see why this is a cause for concern, Matsu-chan." Miya replied as she relaxed her grip on the cooking knife, "He may be powerful, but that has no bearing on whether he attracts more Sekirei, and as he Winged them as a result of _them_ reacting to _him_, it makes him a better Ashikabi, in my opinion."

"He's moving into our street." Matsu said.

Miya paused. "I beg your pardon?"

"His mother contacted a realtor around about midday and placed a reservation on Matsuyama-tan's house that he put up for sale after he moved to live with his daughter in Hokkaido." Matsu babbled, referring to a house across the road and two houses down the street from Izumo Inn, "He has the resources of _three_ MBI VIP cards to buy and furnish the house! I like the look of him, Miya! He's going to attract me as soon as he walks down the street! What if MBI is doing this to draw me out?!"

"I remember Sahashi Takami quite well, Matsu-chan." Miya said quietly, "She visited Takehito in the labs a couple of times. She always declared that she would try and keep her children out of the S-Plan -as it was called then- if she could. The fact that she is instead actively aiding her son in gathering a Flock of Sekirei means that she ran out of options to prevent it from happening. She wouldn't do this otherwise and she wouldn't let her son be used to create a secondary Discipline Squad. If his power calls to you, go to him. Don't let suspicion rend you alone, Matsu-chan. You deserve happiness with an Ashikabi."

"Miya-tan…" Matsu said in surprise.

"Make sure you tell Uzume and Kagari as well." Miya said as she turned back to the chopping board, "Knowing Kagari, he'll go off to his Host Club for a while rather than risk being Winged by a man."

"Uzume-tan will probably leap at the chance." Matsu remarked, "The only person she reacted to got transferred to a Hospital in America the day after they met."

"As with you, if it is what she desires, she will go to him." Miya said calmly, "If it is the will of the fate we call love, then it shall be so."

"Hai, Miya-tan." Matsu said quietly as she slipped out of the kitchen. It was moments like this that made the Sekirei of Wisdom's heart ache for Sekirei Number 00/01, Asama Miya. She had lost her beloved husband and had mourned him ever since, locking out the possibility of being Winged with sheer willpower, although as the Pillar of the Sekirei, it was a big 'what-if' as to whether she could have been Winged in the first place.

"'The fate we call love'…huh…" Matsu whispered. She made for her secret room.

She had research on one Sahashi Minato to do.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

**Next Chapter: Houses and Hammer Time**

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**


	3. Houses and Hammer Time

**Author's Note: Well, here we are at Chapter 3.**

**The Poll Results are in and you will be very interested to hear the results. Any Sekirei with fewer than ten Votes goes to Yukari's 'Flock', so she gets Oriha, the Chakram Sekirei.**

**The rest are all Minato's Sekirei, as they all got above fifteen votes, so yay, Mass Harem!**

**As always, Read, Review and check out my other stories!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei. If I did, the manga would be released in English already.**

"Minato." - Regular Speech

'_Musubi_' - Thoughts

"_**Kaminari!**_" - Sekirei Incantation

**Chapter 3: Houses and Hammer Time**

_With Minato and his Flock_

Minato stared at the door that his mother had just breezily exited from before shaking his head in familiar and fond exasperation. Sahashi Takami always said exactly what she wanted and thought, so he wasn't really all that surprised that she had said all of that, but he really wished that she hadn't said all of that in front of his Sekirei/Wives!

He flushed again at calling the three beautiful girls in his room his wives

"Minato-sama?" Musubi said cutely, "Why's your face red?"

"Ah…no reason." Minato replied hastily, "Now then…once your clothes have been delivered, we'll head out to the realtor and buy our new house before going to have a look at it."

"Sounds good." Hikari said with a nod, "We should buy some regular clothes for Musubi on the way, 'cause her spare clothes will likely be copies of her outfit."

"Good point." Minato conceded.

"Don't…don't you like my clothes?" Musubi asked hesitantly.

"I do actually." he blushed at this, "They look very cute on you. The thing is they make you stand out…well, more than you already do."

"Hai?" Musubi tilted her head in mild puzzlement.

"Musubi-chan, you are a very physically attractive girl." Minato said with a smile, "So are Hikari and Hibiki. Even when wearing ordinary clothes as they're wearing right now, that fact cannot very well be hidden. It's like covering a statue with a sheet. You might be able to disguise the details of the statue, but you know that it is, in fact, a statue beneath the sheet."

The three Sekirei blushed at this compliment.

"Anyway, the point is that your clothes are good for combat, but make it obvious that you're a Sekirei." Hibiki said, her face still flushed with pleasure, "So we'll be buying you some regular human clothes to wear when we aren't expecting to fight someone."

"Think of them as a present from me." Minato added.

The look of happiness on Musubi's face was a contrast to the swiftly hid jealousy on the Twins' faces.

"I'll be buying clothes for you two as well." Minato said immediately, sensing that he might be in trouble with his other Sekirei, "That reminds me, what do your Sekirei outfits look like?"

"Bondage outfits." Hikari said with a flush, "M ones to boot. Takami-sensei got us these so we didn't stand out."

"Wha…?!" Minato squawked, "OK, now new clothes for you two have just been shifted to a priority. What the heck is MBI _thinking_, giving you those as regular clothes?"

"Apparently, all our outfits are chosen by Chairman Minaka." Hibiki replied.

"Right…" Minato shook his head at that, "Sheesh. Forcing people into outfits that aren't their kind of thing…"

The sisters exchanged a look, but a pair of muscle-bound men in black suits came in, dropped off a pair of boxes, one larger than the other, and stomped out.

"Well, now that we have your clothes, we can go." Minato stood up and stretched before grabbing one of the boxes.

A few minutes later Minato, who wasn't carrying anything, and his three Sekirei, who had insisted that they carry everything, stepped out of the hospital's private Ashikabi and Sekirei-only entrance, where a car was waiting, thanks to his mother, the young Ashikabi guessed.

"Minato-san, Takami-sama has put me at your disposal for the duration of today." the driver said politely, "Where would you like to go first?"

"Err…a clothes shop first." Minato said hesitantly, "My girls need more outfits."

Hikari, Hibiki and Musubi preened a little at the possessive statement. They liked how it sounded. They were _his_ and he was _theirs_.Only another Sekirei touching their Crests could change that fact.

"As you wish. I shall pop the boot open so your luggage can be stored comfortably." the driver replied with a slight bow.

'_Things are getting interesting._' Hikari mused. This was Takami making a point to the other members of MBI about her son. That he has her full support and backing, so there…or something along those lines.

She didn't really care. She and her sister were Winged together by a powerful Ashikabi, who was also kind and caring. Anything else was dust in the wind as far as she could care.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

_Izumo Inn_

Sekirei Number 10, Uzume, yawned as she strolled into the dining room of Izumo Inn. She had only just woken up from her regular sixteen-hour sleep and was ready for her four hours of activity.

"Ara, Uzume-chan…I believe you have been told about wandering the Inn stark naked before…" Miya said firmly, the demonic Han'nya mask appearing above her head and leering down at the naked Sekirei.

"Eh…? Ah. I wondered why it was so cool." Uzume muttered as she fled back to her room with cold sweat running down her face. That damn Han'nya mask scared the crap out of her.

Dressed in a tight fitting T-Shirt and jeans that did nothing whatsoever to hide her large shapely breasts and tight butt, Uzume once more entered the dining room, this time with wariness in her steps. Seeing she wasn't in danger of being smacked with a ladle or banned from eating, she took her place at the table and started to eat.

She really appreciated Miya letting her stay here, but if you combined her strictness with her prudish nature and quick judgement, you got a situation that made the brown-haired Sekirei really wish she could find her Ashikabi very quickly.

The only person she had reacted to whatsoever had been a sickly girl at a hospital in the eastern portion of the New Capital, Hidaka Chiho. She had been kind, compassionate and a really nice girl from what Uzume could tell at their first and only meeting. She had gone back the next day to Wing herself on her, only to discover that she had been transferred to a specialist Hospital in America.

It had been almost a month since then and she hadn't reacted to anybody else since. Uzume couldn't understand how she couldn't seem to react to anybody.

"Is something the matter, Uzume-chan?" Miya asked in concern.

"Just wondering why I can't seem to react to anyone." Uzume replied after finishing her mouthful of rice, "I mean…I reacted to Chiho-chan, so why nobody else?"

"You are Sekirei Number Ten, only one step down from the Single Numbers." Matsu said as she came in and sat at her own place at the table, "Logically, that means that a powerful Ashikabi is needed to make you react."

"Actually, it might also have to do with your expectations as well." Miya put in, "You reacted to a girl the first time, so are you limiting yourself to reacting to females or are you including males in your searches?"

"Either is good." Uzume shrugged, "I don't really care as long as I get an Ashikabi who treats me well."

"I found out a bit of interesting news, Uzume-chan." Matsu said, "Apparently, Sahashi Takami has let her son become an Ashikabi."

"Takami-sensei has?" Uzume asked in surprise, "Who're his Sekirei?"

"The Raiden Futago, Numbers 11 and 12, as well as Number 88." Matsu said, "I spied on them when they were being Winged. All indications point towards him being a very powerful Ashikabi."

At this, Uzume perked up. "He is?"

"When Musubi, Number 88, Winged herself on him, she had an orgasm." Matsu said with a mildly lecherous smirk, "Think how much power it takes to accomplish that for an Ashikabi. Even more interesting news is that he's going to be moving to Matsuyama-tan's old house in our street."

'_Better and better._' Uzume thought. Aloud, she said, "When? What does he look like?"

"Sometime today, I think. As for what he looks like…" Matsu took a photo from between her breasts and showed it to Uzume. It was of Minato from when he was entering the Hospital with his Sekirei.

"Wow…he's a cutie." Uzume said as she evaluated the photo.

"Right?" Matsu purred, "It'll be interesting to see exactly how powerful he is. If I react to him…oh, the _data_ I could get from analysing his power…!"

The glasses-wearing girl was almost drooling at the thought of all that lovely data.

"Matsu-nee, you really are an info-junkie, ya know that?" Uzume deadpanned, "Well, I'm in. I'd quite like to react to _someone_. Don't really care that he already has three Sekirei. If anything, it makes for a lot of fun in the bedroom once we all start to get along."

Matsu flushed at this and her eyes went distant as she considered the possibilities. A perverted giggle came from her as she imagined it all.

"Uzume-chan…kindly do not make indecent jokes inside the Inn…" Miya once again invoked the deadly power of her Han'nya mask at the humour of her tenants.

"Dammit Miya, will you stop doing that!" Uzume yelled, "That's it! Even if I don't react to Minato, I'm gonna ask to move in with him! It would beat being scolded for a little harmless humour!"

The purple-haired woman blinked in surprise at this. She was strict, but she personally didn't think she warranted that reaction from Uzume.

"That's a rather harsh thing to say, Uzume-chan." she reproached her tenant, "I'm just trying to-"

"Enforce your own morals and opinions on us?" Uzume interjected, "You can act like a nun if you want, Miya, but me? Once I get an Ashikabi, I'm outta here and into his or her bed."

"That would not be wise, Uzume-chan." Miya said gravely, "Even although your body is fully developed, your power as a Sekirei is not. Premature sexual activity will stunt your growth in mind and spirit."

The two other Sekirei eyed her as if she was mad. "Assuming you aren't bullshitting me, we're adults by the standard of humans." Uzume pointed out, "You haven't aged a bit since you reached your full growth, but I thought that was a part of the whole 'Sekirei Pillar' thing. How long do we live for?"

"Oh, slightly longer than the average human lifespan…about a hundred and twenty, if we're careful." Miya said with a smile, "As to whether I am 'bullshitting' you, I am not."

"'kay, then what do you mean by my power isn't fully developed?" Uzume asked, slightly offended that her power was being called immature.

"As you know, at the moment, as Unwinged Sekirei, you are only able to access approximately thirty percent of your powers thanks to MBI's adjustments." the Pillar said as she knelt at the table, "Once you are Winged and Emerge, that jumps up to seventy percent. The remaining thirty percent is automatically bridged when you use your Norito. By you and your Ashikabi becoming closer to each other however, you can surpass the limit with your Norito. Say you reach a hundred percent power thanks to becoming close to your Ashikabi and you then use Norito, putting your total power up to a hundred and thirty percent."

"So…having sex before you hit max means…" Matsu contemplated this aloud.

"…means that you stop at whatever level your power is at before you get penetrated." Miya finished, "This is why there is a no illicit relations rule in Izumo Inn, to prevent this from happening."

"What about the males?" Matsu asked, "Does the same restriction apply there?"

"No, male Sekirei are slightly different again." Miya replied, "With the males, it's a question of their hearts and wills choosing to grow stronger for the sake of their Ashikabi once they are Winged. Males and females are different that way."

"How can we tell that our power is fully developed?" the tenth Sekirei asked.

"Either ask me to measure your power or have someone look at your wings whenever you kiss your Ashikabi." Miya replied, "If each wing reaches three meters in length, you're there."

"And…you never told us this because…why?" Uzume asked, eyeing the 01 Sekirei suspiciously.

"Because I also believe strongly in the sanctity of marriage." Miya said calmly, "While yes, Winging yourselves is a form of marriage, it is only valid on the Sekirei home world. We are on Earth, so their law system is the rule here."

"I do have to point out that MBI violates those laws hundreds of times a day and has done since our ship was discovered." Uzume said bluntly, "And we aren't human, so limiting ourselves to human laws is stupid."

"As you have said, you are you and I am myself." Miya said quietly, "While you are Unwinged and residing here, you shall follow my rules. Once you are Winged, I hope you follow my advice regarding your power as I would hate to see your growth stymied because of mere physical pleasures."

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

_Realtor's Office_

"Thank you for your business!" the man said as he handed Minato back his MBI VIP card and a receipt of his transaction, namely the purchase of one house for quite the chunk of cash.

'_Housing prices are stupidly high in the New Capital!_' Minato though with a shake of his head. For what had just been charged to his card, he could have bought quite a bit of land back in Hokkaido.

Nodding his thanks to the man, Minato headed back out the door and got back into the car after handing the address of his new house to the driver.

"How did it go, Minato-sama?" Hibiki asked.

"Fine, but the prices of houses around here are ridiculous." he said with a sigh as he sat back, "Musubi-chan, how are the new clothes?"

Musubi, now dressed in a similar outfit to the twins, smiled at her Ashikabi happily. "They're a bit different from my battle outfit, but they are nice."

"That's good." Minato looked her up and down for a moment, "I think that traditional Japanese clothes suit you better though. I'll ask Kaa-san where a good kimono shop is in the Capital and take you three there next time."

"We're looking forward to it." Hikari said honestly. She had been treated to a nice shopping trip today and had picked up some nice clothes and even some very nice lingerie. Minato had begged off from the last one, but had sat patiently through most of the shopping trip with patience that most men, from the stories Takami and a few other human women had told her, generally didn't have.

She ascribed it to being trained by Takami, and made a mental note to thank her mother in law for training her son up so well.

"What does our new home look like, Minato-sama?" Hibiki asked curiously.

"It's a two story building with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a good-sized kitchen, dining room, as well as a largish yard and a front garden." Minato said, recalling the floor plan the realtor had shown him, "It also had a couple of storerooms that we can convert to whatever we want."

"How the heck did Takami-san manage to reserve that for you?" Hikari wondered aloud.

"Dunno." Minato shrugged as the streets went by, "Knowing Kaa-san though, anything's possible. She might just have threatened to beat him up or something."

The Raiden Futago nodded in agreement. That _did_ seem like Takami's style.

"Anyway, the furniture situation isn't quite as bad as Kaa-san thought it was." Minato continued, "The previous owner took most of the chairs, sideboards and beds, but left the large kitchen appliances behind, so we don't have as much to do as we thought."

"We'd better check them out to make sure they're not junk." Hikari pointed out, "Cookers and washing machines aren't cheap, so the last owner must have had a good reason for leaving them behind."

"True enough." Minato conceded, "We'll check the kitchen out first, then make sure the rest of the house is up to spec."

"Minato-san, we have arrived." the driver called out a few minutes later.

"Thank you." Minato said, "We might be a while, so take a break come back in about an hour so we can go furniture shopping."

"Thank you, Minato-san." the driver smiled thankfully, "I have to get some shopping done for Takami-san, so I'll go off and do that. See you in an hour."

In short order, Minato and his girls unpacked the car of their shopping and watched the car trundle off. They then turned to regard their new home, which looked just as Minato had described it. It was slightly more modern looking than the rest of the houses in the street, although not by much.

"Let's head in girls." Minato said as he started forwards himself.

"Hai!" they replied as they matched his pace.

Minato fished the key for the house from his pocket and unlocked the door. "That's something else; I'll have to have keys cut for you three as well."

"Why?" Hibiki asked, "We can just go out with you."

"What if you and Hikari want to spend some quality time as sisters together?" Minato asked, "You'd need a key for that. Besides, we…are married, by Sekirei rules anyway, so it's only right that you all have keys to our home."

Hikari hugged Minato gently. "Arigato, for being so considerate, Minato-sama." she said and pecked him on the cheek, making him flush red again.

Entering the house, they quickly went over the place, confirming that it was as the floor plan back at the realtor's had said it was. It also had a large living room area and even a large basement.

"What the heck?" Minato muttered, "There's no way that the house was built like this. The previous owner must have heavily reconstructed the place. Makes you wonder why he moved out if he spent so much on it."

"Who cares; it's ours now." Hikari said with a grin, "While you were checking out the basement, Hibiki and I went over the kitchen. All the major appliances are in good condition, so no worries about them. We don't have a rice cooker though."

"Add it to the list." Minato said with a smile, "Underneath futons, sofas chairs, beds and rugs. By the way, where's Musubi-chan?"

"Eh…dunno. She vanished while we were in the kitchen." Hibiki replied with a frown.

A loud crash, swiftly followed by a feminine yelp, signalled the location of the Fist-type Sekirei as being somewhere on the first floor.

Minato hurried off to see what his third Sekirei had gotten herself into. He came across her sprawled out underneath a large amount of mops, brooms and metal buckets that had apparently fallen atop her when she opened the door to what was now evidently a broom cupboard.

"Auuuuu~!" Musubi moaned.

As Minato helped her out from underneath the pile of cleaning accoutrements, he couldn't help but sneak appreciative glances at Musubi's breasts, which were the biggest he had ever seen. It did help that Musubi herself was a very likable person, innocent and kind along with her very delectable body.

"Be more careful when you open doors, OK?" he told her as he placed everything back in the cupboard and closed the door firmly.

"Hai. Sorry for worrying you, Minato-sama." Musubi apologised meekly.

The raven-haired Ashikabi chuckled and patted her head kindly, "No apologies necessary. Just be more careful, OK?"

"Hai!" Musubi chirped brightly.

"Good girl. Now, let's check out this floor." Minato said and Musubi obligingly trotted after him as he inspected the second floor. There were indeed three bedrooms on this floor, with one larger than the others by a small amount. Musubi declared that this had to be Minato's room.

"Why?" Minato asked. He didn't mind, but he was curious as to the answer.

"You are our Ashikabi and master; this room will act as a symbol of status that will show that." Hibiki said as she and Hikari came up behind them, "I suppose that your sister will sleep in there too. What is she like?"

"Yukari? " Minato asked with a frown, "She's a nice girl but a bit…clingy. She has a bad habit of trying to find fault in any girl who tries to get close to me. Add in the fact it takes a crowbar to pry her from me unless we live in separate cities or buildings and you come up with part of the reason I haven't had a girlfriend before now."

"A Brocon. Great." Hikari snorted, "If she tries that shit with us, she's going to see _exactly_ why Minaka gave us S&M costumes."

"Eh?" Minato said.

"We like dominating girls and being dominated by guys." Hibiki said bluntly, even though she was blushing like a tomato at this, "We prefer to be dominated, thus the M costumes, but we do like the occasional girl to play with…at least we think we will. We are virgins after all."

Minato flushed at that. "Right…we won't be doing…_that_…for a while now. We still don't know each other well and I think I'd like Kaa-san to give Musubi 'The Talk' as she doesn't have a clue what we're talking about."

Truly, Musubi was so lost that she needed a GPS in order to find where she was. She had multiple question marks floating above her head, as she didn't know what her Ashikabi and the two First Sekirei were talking about.

"Don't worry, Musubi." Hibiki told her gently, "Takami-san will tell you _all_ about it at another time, OK?"

"Oh. OK then!" Musubi looked reassured that she would get an explanation at some point, so she put it out of her mind for now.

A loud honking noise made them jump. Minato checked his watch and was astounded to see that an hour had gone by already. Looks like time really _did_ go by fast when you had fun.

"Right then. We have to go shopping for furniture and the like now." Minato said and looked at the list he had written down, "We'll order the furniture to be delivered tomorrow and get futons, a rice cooker and some basic food supplies for tomorrow last. Is that OK with you three?"

"Hai!" his Sekirei chorused.

_A Little Time Later_

_A Furniture Shop_

"This bed is way too big!" Minato protested, gesturing at the King-Size Four Poster bed that Hibiki and Hikari were adamant that he buy.

"Minato-sama." Hikari moved in and whispered into his ear, "We Sekirei are very physically demonstrative and need contact with our Ashikabi. The likelihood that we'll sleepwalk into your bed is high, so trust me; you'll need a big bed."

Minato sweatdropped at that. Locking his door wouldn't do him any good because he saw Musubi accidentally punch a hole in a wall when she was trying to swat a fly that had buzzed past her.

"Fine." he sighed, "I just really hope that the 'unlimited' in unlimited value MBI VIP cards isn't just false advertising."

They had almost finished with the furniture shopping, having bought beds, dressers, chairs, sofas, tables, more chairs and now this oversized excuse of a bed. They had even bought a widescreen TV with a built-in DVD player/recorder.

"Right…now for the basic necessities for tonight." Minato said as he led his girls out of the shop. He was still stunned at exactly how much money he had spent today, but…meh. He had cash to burn and it was for his girls.

A scream made Minato jump and look around to find the source. A girl with light brown hair and wearing a long white gown was struggling to get away from a man who was trying to drag her into an alley. The man had an arrogant sneer and the air of a bully around him that set Minato's hackles on edge.

"Stop it!" the girl wailed, "I'm not reacting to you!"

"Fuck that, bitch!" the man barked, "Yer one of those Sekirei with those MBI card things, right? If you become my women, I'm set fer life!"

"Why that…!" Hikari seethed.

"Musubi, go help her. Don't go all out." Minato ordered, his voice broadcasting his own anger "Hikari, Hibiki, you're with me."

"Hai!" Musubi charged at the man with a scowl on her face. How dare this man try and forcibly Wing a Sekirei?! If Yume-sama were here, she'd blast him with her positron beams!

The brunette grabbed the bully as soon as she was close enough and ripped him from the other brunette, who looked up in astonishment at someone actually helping her.

"The fuck?" the man glared at Musubi in bewildered anger, "Who the hell are you?"

"Number Eighty-Eight, Musubi." the Fist-type Sekirei said firmly, "How dare you try and force yourself on an unwilling Sekirei?!"

"Another one? My lucky day!" the man grinned and tried to break Musubi's grip on him, but was utterly unable to do so.

"Are you alright?" Minato asked the girl, who stared at him in surprise.

"Y-yeas, I'm fine." she said as she self-consciously brushed the wrinkles out of her gown, "I…He just grabbed me out of nowhere and knocked my hammer out of my hands before I could do anything."

"Hammer?" Minato asked in confusion.

The Sekirei pointed at a hammer that was taller than she was lying on the ground nearby. The double-headed hammer must weigh more than the Sekirei herself did.

"Ah…you should grab it then." Minato told her, "Hikari, Hibiki…do your thing."

"With pleasure, Minato-sama." the Raiden Futago smirked evilly as they stepped forwards to confront the man. Musubi released him with a weak push and returned to her Ashikabi's side.

"You little bitch!" the man growled as he began to stalk towards Musubi, completely ignoring the twins…much to his disadvantage, as he was suddenly electrocuted by them.

"Gaaaahhhh!" he shrieked before collapsing in a burnt, twitching heap.

"He wasn't all that." Hikari said as she lazily examined her nails.

"You're…an Ashikabi?" the girl asked.

"Yep. Sahashi Minato. Nice to meet you." the raven-haired Ashikabi introduced himself with a smile.

"Sekirei N-Number Eighty-Four…Yashima…" the Sekirei replied shyly, a blush on her face, "Umm…can I ask if you wish to Wing me?"

"EH!?" Minato looked at her in surprise and noticed the telltale signs beginning to show themselves. Flushed face, check. Rubbing legs together, check.

"You're reacting to me, aren't you?" Minato asked with a sigh.

"Hai…" Yashima replied, "You're really strong. How didn't I notice you before this is beyond me…"

"You were in a pseudo-combat situation." Hibiki told her, "Your survival instincts took precedence before your instinct to find an Ashikabi. Well, Minato-sama?"

"Looks like we're going to have to get supplies for five then." Minato sighed with a crooked smile.

"Thank you!" Yashima breathed in gratitude before gently placing her hammer to one side and kissing Minato full on the lips. Her blue wings burst from her back and seemed to fold around them before vanishing.

"Let the gravity of our bond never separate us, My Ashikabi." Yashima sighed as she cuddled into him.

"Welcome to the family, Yashima-chan!" Musubi said with a smile before nudging the fallen wannabe Ashikabi with the toe of her shoe, "What should we do about this guy, Minato-sama? He might go after another Sekirei if we leave him here."

"I'll give Kaa-san a call." Minato pulled out his mobile one-handed, keeping one around Yashima, and hit the speed-dial for his mother's phone.

"_Moshi-moshi?_" Takami answered.

"Kaa-san, we have a bit of a situation here." Minato said and outlined the problem.

"_Well done, Min-chan._" Takami said warmly, "_Take the scum to the nearest police station. I'll arrange for him to be sent to prison as fast as is physically possible. The __last__ thing we need are idiots like that as Ashikabi. I'll be swinging by your place in a couple of hours. Should I bring take-out?_"

"It would help." Minato replied, "We're just about to go futon and rice cooker shopping. Yashima-chan is still a bit shaken up by what happened so could you give her a once over while you're there?"

"_I was planning on doing that anyway._" Takami replied, "_I've gotta go now. See you in a couple of hours, Min-chan._"

"See you later, Kaa-san." Minato hung up and looked around to his four Sekirei, "Yashima-chan, my mother's Sahashi Takami and she wants to give you a look over later on. Is that alright with you?"

"H-Hai." Yashima nodded.

"Right then. Let's get to shopping." Minato nodded.

"Hey, you!" a loud, rough voice shouted.

"Oh crap…" Hikari muttered, recognising this voice.

Minato turned to see a black-haired man in his mid-twenties, wearing a rough black jacket and a pair of jeans stalking towards him.

"Err…who are you?" Minato asked.

"Seo Kaoru and you Winged my Sekirei!" he growled.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

**Next Chapter: Taking Out The Trash**

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

**Author's Note: Evil Cliffhanger technique…complete.**


	4. Taking out the Trash

**Author's Note: Yo. Chapter 4 here.**

**As some people missed the list of Minato's Sekirei from the Poll, here is a complete list.**

**Tsukiumi**

**Akitsu**

**Kuruse**

**Musubi**

**Matsu**

**Yashima**

**Uzume**

**Kazehana**

**Hikari**

**Hibiki**

**Benitsubasa**

**Kuu**

**Yahan**

**Kaho**

**Yomi**

**That's all of Minato's Sekirei, present and future.**

**Just to let you all know, I do not really bash characters. Yes, Seo is going to be a douche in this chapter, but that is not indicative of him being bashed.**

**Read, Review and check out my other stories!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei. If I did, the manga would be released in English already.**

"Minato." - Regular Speech

'_Musubi_' - Thoughts

"_**Kaminari!**_" - Sekirei Incantation

**Chapter Four: Taking out the Trash**

"Huh?" was all Minato could say as the rough-looking man glared at him.

"Don't 'Huh' me!" the man growled, "_You Winged my Sekirei!_"

"Uh…girls?" Minato asked, "Any of you know this guy?"

"Never seen him." Yashima replied, fingering her large hammer nervously.

"Nope." Musubi said with a shrug.

"He…was the person we reacted to initially." Hikari admitted.

"As we said, our reaction was very mild." Hibiki added quietly.

Seo gaped at the Raiden Futago in disbelief. "But…but you reacted to me, not him!"

"Seo, Sekirei can react to multiple people." Hibiki sighed, "It just so happens that Minato-sama is a bonfire to your lit candle, compatibility-wise."

"A kid like this is more compatible than me?!" Seo wasn't looking happy at this, not to mention a little disbelieving.

"Yep." Hikari shrugged before she and her sister draped themselves on either side of Minato and snuggled in to him, making him flush at the close contact, "Of course the compatibility issue is just one reason we chose Minato-sama. Another reason is that any Sekirei Winged by you has their MBI Cards cancelled."

"That bastard Minaka!" Seo snarled, fists clenched and shaking in fury.

"Anyway, we've been Winged, so there isn't anything you can do about it." Hibiki said as she cuddled her Ashikabi.

"Tch." Seo glowered at Minato for a moment before stomping off, "I'll just have to Wing another Sekirei then. If I come across ya then kid, all bets are off."

The next thing Minato knew, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and a pair of lightning bolts shot from the outstretched hands of the pair of enraged Sekirei attached to him, reaching out to strike Seo in the centre of the back, electrocuting him to the point Minato could swear that he could see the mans skeleton as the electricity danced across Seo's body.

"Don't. _Ever_. Threaten our Ashikabi." the twins spoke in unison as Seo collapsed to the ground, burnt and twitching spasmodically.

"How the hell didn't I get shocked there?" Minato asked as he patted down his hair.

"You're our Ashikabi; our powers cannot hurt you." Hibiki explained, "Actually, our default is that you cannot be hurt by our abilities. Musubi there can't punch or kick you, nor can Yashima-san hit you with her hammer. By applying a considerable amount of power, we can bypass that if we want, but it is draining to do so."

"Useful to know." Minato remarked as he eyed Seo crawling away looking like an overcooked BBQ rib, "Now…Yashima-chan, we ordered our beds earlier and the shop's closed now, so would you mind sharing with Musubi-chan until we can order one for you?"

"Hai, Minato-sama." his newest Sekirei nodded shyly.

"All to the good." Minato sighed, "Now girls, while having you hug me is nice, I do need to be able to walk properly so we can finish our shopping…besides, it's Musubi and Yashima's turn."

"Hai." the Raiden Futago replied a bit sulkily and reluctantly removed themselves from Minato, making way for an enthusiastic Musubi and shy Yashima to take their places. They perked up when Minato told them to take the idiot who tried to forcibly Wing Yashima to the nearest kōban(Police Box) and not to be gentle about it.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

_One Hour, 45 Minutes Later_

_Master Bedroom, Minato's New House_

"That's everything." Minato said as he straightened up from setting up his futon up in his room, "Kaa-san should be here in about an hour."

"Takami-sensei is a nice person." Yashima offered shyly, "She was always nice to all of us while she was adjusting us in the Lab."

Yashima had volunteered to help Minato move things to his room while the other three put the groceries away and set up the rice cooker.

"Glad to hear it." Minato said with a smile, "Yashima-chan, I've been wondering. Is that large hammer your specialty?"

"Well…" Yashima paused before answering, "All Sekirei are stronger than humans -more resilient, faster, more agile- and some of us can use the elements, like the twins. Others have been trained in the use of a weapon. I am one of the few who can only channel an element through a weapon. I can manipulate gravitational forces through my hammer, making it as light as a feather or increasing the strength of the blows. My Norito is an enlarged version of that."

"Norito?" Minato asked in confusion.

"A Norito is a Sekirei's ultimate weapon, a prayer that is unique to each individual Sekirei, to them and them alone." Yashima replied, with a blush, "By…kissing…our Ashikabi, we get a strong power boost and a unique attack. My own is 'Gravity Hammer', which expands the size of my weapon's hammerhead and the Area of Effect that my gravity can touch. Any Sekirei caught in the epicentre will be defeated, even a Single Number."

"Wow…that's some ability." Minato said admiringly.

"I-It's nothing, really." Yashima's blush grew deeper at the obvious admiration from her Ashikabi, "I've…always been indecisive lacked confidence. That's why that…_man_…was able to disarm me so easily. I hesitated to attack an ordinary human and almost got forcibly Winged."

"I think you were just being cautious." Minato said thoughtfully, "I mean, when you have more strength than other people, it's natural to think before you act. You were just taken off guard by him grabbing you so suddenly. If it happens again, I think you'll react quicker. Once bitten, twice shy, right?"

"Minato-sama!" Yashima hugged him, "Thank you for being so kind!"

"Easy now!" Minato chuckled, patting the excited Sekirei on the back, "Let's go see how the others are doing."

As Minato made his way down the stairs with Yashima in tow, he heard raised voices coming from the kitchen. Which meant that Musubi was arguing with either Hikari or Hibiki, likely Hikari.

"-ust because your boobs are the size of cow udders doesn't mean he'll sleep with you first!" Hikari snapped at Musubi, who had a mulish expression on her face as Minato hurried into the room.

"Musubi doesn't get it, but he will!" the Miko look-alike retorted stubbornly.

"Oi!" Minato called, "What's this about?"

"Minato-sama, this girl wants to bed you first!" an outraged Hikari exclaimed, "It isn't right! We're your First Sekirei!"

"Musubi's a wife just like you two!" Musubi retorted.

"Oh dear." Minato sighed, "Hibiki, how did this get started?"

"I have no idea." the more level-headed twin replied, "One minute I'm putting the rice away, the next minute these two are arguing about who is going to bed you first, us or her."

"I see." Minato pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave off the incipient headache that he felt coming on, achieving only middling success.

He had a premonition that as he Winged more Sekirei, the headaches would be more frequent and increase appropriately.

"Musubi, wait until my Kaa-san has told you what sleeping with someone as a wife is before you make any decisions about that." Minato attempted to channel King Solomon as he mediated between his Sekirei, "Hikari, insulting your sister-wives is not acceptable. Please apologise to Musubi for insulting her."

"…Sorry." Hikari said sulkily to Musubi, who nodded in acceptance of the begrudging apology.

"Good girl." Minato gave her a peck on the cheek, making her flush happily, "Now, is everything put away?"

"Hai, Minato-sama." Hibiki nodded, "The rice was the last thing that needed to be put away and I set up futon for Nee-san, myself, Musubi and Yashima."

"Well done Hibiki." Minato was impressed with the younger twin, "Now let's have a seat. I want to talk to you all about the Sekirei Plan before Kaa-san gets here."

Once they were all seated at the kitchen table, Minato started to speak, "Right…now, Kaa-san has told me the bare bones of the Sekirei Plan; that it's a survival tournament involving the Sekirei. It is highly secretive and involves multiple stages, of which we are in the First Stage. Have I missed anything?"

"No, you have outlined everything pretty accurately." Hibiki replied, "What is it you would like to discuss?"

"When I Winged each of you, a crest of some sort emerged from your backs, shortly followed by your, rather beautiful, wings." Minato smiled as his Sekirei uniformly preened at that comment, "What I would like to know is what it is."

"The Sekirei Crest is a Sekirei's weak point." Yashima said quietly, "Of the two methods of defeating Sekirei, it is the quickest and least painful to the target Sekirei. By placing a finger upon an enemy Sekirei's Crest and reciting our Norito, we can remove the Crest, shutting down the Sekirei and removing her from the Sekirei Plan."

"It kills them?!" Minato yelped.

"No, no, no." Hikari shook her head adamantly, "It places the Sekirei into a kind of suspended animation, a coma until they are recovered. I have heard rumours that there is something that can reactivate a deactivated Sekirei, but I have no idea if it is true."

"All of you are to watch each others backs." Minato ordered, slightly pale from the shock of the information, "Yashima-chan, you mentioned that removing the Crest is the easiest method of defeating a Sekirei. Are there any other methods?"

"There are two." Yashima replied quietly, "The first is to cause a certain level of damage to the Sekirei, which activates a safety mechanism, automatically removing the Crest and sending a signal to MBI HQ. The other…isn't a pleasant one to consider."

Hibiki took up the tale at this point, "The final method is to kill a Sekirei's Ashikabi, which automatically deactivates all Sekirei Winged by that Ashikabi. This is strictly forbidden in the Rules of the Sekirei Plan, but some Ashikabi might be…callous enough…to order it done."

"Message received; be careful about other Ashikabi's Sekirei." Minato said seriously, a trickle of sweat falling down the side of his face. His Sekirei's lives were literally depending on his continued existence. Talk about pressure!

"Please do." Hibiki replied equally seriously, "Now, when was Takami-sensei supposed to arrive again?"

"Right here." Takami answered as she strolled in with a large bag of Chinese Take-Out in one hand, "I wish you hadn't told Minato about the Sekirei Failsafe, but there you are. Let's eat, shall we?"

"'Failsafe'?" Minato frowned.

"Musubi could punch your head off." Takami remarked conversationally, "The twins could torture you to death with electricity; Yashima could smash you to death with her hammer. Without a pressing reason to keep you alive, a few of the Sekirei wouldn't care what happened to you. By tying you to their own lives, it means that they cannot be careless with you and must protect you. One of Minaka's less ridiculous ideas."

As his mother doles out the food, Minato was thinking about everything that had transpired today and came to a conclusion: his life was not going to be anything like easy or simple until this 'game' was over, and it probably wouldn't be afterwards, what with being 'married' to a gaggle of gorgeous alien women.

Yukari was going to kill him, if his grandmother didn't beat her to it.

"So." Takami said after they finished eating, "Yashima-chan. Nice to see you again and welcome to the family."

"A-Arigato, Takami-sensei." Yashima replied with a blush.

"Not '-sensei'." Takami corrected, "'-Okaa-sama'. Say it with me 'Takami-Okaa-sama'."

A furiously blushing Yashima muttered the words while doing a close examination of the tabletop, making the grey-haired women laugh.

"Now then…were you injured by the scum who tried to Wing you?" the Head of the Sekirei Plan asked as she examined the brunette Sekirei critically.

"N-No…Minato-sama stopped him before he could do anything more than grab me." Yashima replied with a grateful smile at Minato.

"It makes me wonder how he knew you were a Sekirei from the get-go." Takami mused, "We might have a mole…other than Seo, of course."

"Speaking of Seo, we ran into him just after Minato-sama got off the phone to you." Hikari said and outlined their confrontation with Seo Kaoru, including the man's subsequent threat.

"He was just spouting tough words." Takami dismissed Seo's threat casually, "He and Takehito talked about this kind of thing a lot, so now that he's calmed down, he'll likely of remembered about it and will feel pretty sheepish about it. Don't worry about Seo; he knows better than to mess with you guys."

The twins huffed indignantly as they muttered, "He had better know better!"

Takami took Yashima into another room to do a more thorough physical exam and warned Minato not to peek, resulting in the boy turning bright red and denying the intention ever crossing his mind in a high-pitched voice that held mingled tones of outrage and embarrassment in it.

"Well, she's as fit as a fiddle." Tamaki announced once she finished her examination and led the blushing Sekirei back to the others, "Just give her some TLC and she'll be fine."

"TLC?" Musubi asked in bemusement.

"Tender Loving Care." Minato explained, "Yashima-chan was almost subjected to having her choice taken from her and she needs time to get over it."

"Ohhh." the Fist-type Sekirei nodded.

"By the way Kaa-san, do you think you could give Musubi-chan 'The Talk' at some point?" Minato asked, "She's been asking about sleeping with me."

"Ahhh. Right. I'll tell her all about the Birds and the Bees before I go." Takami nodded, "How was the shopping?"

"Expensive." Minato sighed, "If it wasn't for the fact the MBI cards are the next best thing to unlimited, I would have hesitated to buy half of what we did today. By the way, do you know any good kimono shops in the Capital?"

"No, but I can find out." Takami replied as she smiled crookedly, "Taking your girls for kimono and yukata?"

"Yes. I think Musubi looks nice -very nice- in traditional clothes, and the others will look good in them as well." Minato replied honestly. His four Sekirei all restrained the urge to kiss him into submission.

"Good. Now, I'm going to give you a warning." Takami said seriously, "There are a group of Sekirei working for MBI called the Discipline Squad. They are the enforcement wing of MBI and report to Minaka himself. Do not get caught breaking the rules or they will terminate your Sekirei, especially the leader of the Squad…Number Four, the Black Sekirei, Karasuba."

"Karasuba-sama?" Musubi asked in surprise.

"You _know_ her?!" Hibiki asked in shock.

"Karasuba-sama helped to save my life." Musubi replied with a smile, "Along with Yume-sama."

"True." Takami acknowledged, "But she hates humans. Even Ashikabi are little more than vermin in her opinion. Be very, very careful if you as much as suspect that she's nearby."

"Got it." Minato nodded, "I'm curious Kaa-san. How many Stages are there in this Plan?"

"Minaka hasn't been explicit, but he has alluded to at least four, possibly as many as six." the ash-haired woman replied.

"And…what's the prize for the winners?" he continued.

"The winning Sekirei and Ashikabi are allowed to remain together forever." Musubi replied for his mother.

"Definitely a good prize." Minato smiled at his Sekirei, who nodded back with smiles of their own.

"Well, I'd better explain the facts of life to Musubi before I head out." Takami sighed, "I have to visit a friend nearby in a while, so let's get this over with. Just to warn you Musubi-chan, this will be very embarrassing for you."

The brunette looked puzzled as she followed Takami into the next room. There was a muffled sound of talking for a few minutes, swiftly followed by a loud 'EEP!' followed by a thud.

"Min-chan?" Takami called, "Musubi's fainted."

Minato facepalmed.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

_Ten Minutes Later_

_Izumo Inn_

Takami strolled up to the Inn's door and rang the bell, a small grin still on her face as she recalled the scarlet-red face of Musubi as she was told the basics of what sex was. She had managed to retain consciousness until the end of the basic lecture, but Takami suspected that she would have to go into more depth at a later date.

What fun.

"Takami-san." Miya greeted her when she opened the door, "I'm pretty certain I made it clear that no one from MBI was allowed in Izumo Inn…"

The giant purple Han'nya mask phased into existence and loomed over her, leering down at an unaffected Takami.

"OK, 1) If _Takehito_ couldn't make me flinch with that, _you_ don't stand a chance." the Head of the Sekirei Plan said casually, "And 2) I'm here as a mother, not as a member of MBI. Now if you are quite finished grandstanding, we have a lot to discuss."

"You haven't changed much, Takami-san." Miya sighed, the Han'nya dissipating instantly, "Come on in, although I have a pretty good idea what it is you are here to say."

The landlady of Izumo Inn led Takami into the dining room, where a petrified Matsu was cowering behind Uzume, looking as if she were about to faint with fear.

"Miya-tan! Why'd you let her in?!" Matsu whimpered.

"Oh, keep your skirts straight Matsu." Takami sighed in irritation, "I'm not going to tell that idiot Minaka where you are. I'm actually glad you took the Jinki (God Vessel) as it means one less that Minaka has."

"Matsu peered around Uzume suspiciously, the Veil Sekirei rolling her eyes at the Wisdom Sekirei's antics. "Really?"

"Yes." Takami gave her an exasperated look, "I have no idea what he's been up to because he's kept me running off my feet until recently doing both my job _and_ Takehito's old job at once, so the less advantages he has, the better."

"Is that why you manipulated your son into the Sekirei Plan?" Miya asked pointedly.

"It would have happened without my interference; all I did was give it a nudge." Takami replied with a shrug, "Minato is a good kid and having four-plus Sekirei around him is going to make him grow something of a spine, although when he stood up to his old Landlord, that was unexpected. Maybe he was developing one…before the little bastard broke his arm again."

"Someone broke your son's arm? Again?" Miya asked sharply.

"Yep. Same person, with a grudge against MBI." Takami scowled at the remembered wrath she felt when she heard, "That's one reason I sent the Raiden Futago; nothing more painful than electrocution. I take it you know about Min-chan's new Sekirei?"

"Yashima, Sekirei Number Eighty-Four." Matsu said promptly, "Winged by Sahashi Minato approximately two and three-quarters of an hour ago after he defeated someone attempting to Wing her by force. How's she doing?"

"Shaken up and nervous, but unharmed." Takami replied, "And how are you and Uzume doing? Reacting to Min-chan yet?"

Uzume and Matsu flushed.

"Ummm…yeah…quite a bit." Matsu said as she fidgeted slightly.

"Whenever he passes the house, neither of us can ignore the heat." Uzume added.

"Looks like Min-chan is more powerful than I thought." Takami mused, "You both have my permission to Wing yourselves on him if he accepts."

"Thanks, sensei." Uzume nodded, "What's he like? Matsu pulled his school files, but nothing tells me anything about who he is, other than the fact he's really easy to pressure."

"My fault, I'm afraid." Takami sighed, "Me, his sister and his grandmother are really dominating women. We barely gave him any room to grow. The instant he had his own opinion, we usually stomped it back down fairly quickly. The only time he ever stood up to us was when he insisted on coming to the New Capital for University. That was a shocker."

"He seems very intelligent." Matsu mused, "He just needs to practice exam conditions and he'll be fine."

"That reminds me, the Entrance Exam is next week." Takami realised, "I should remind Min-chan to study for it once the furniture is delivered tomorrow."

"He's bought furniture already?" Miya asked mildly, "Has he spent a lot of money?"

"He got gulled." Takami shrugged, "A lot of the stuff he bought is overpriced, but not absurdly so. MBI's footing the bill, so it doesn't matter. Minaka will laugh the expense off like always."

Uzume shook her head in disbelief. "Is he that dismissive of how money is spent?"

"No, but he understands that anyone paying with an MBI Card is going to be gouged price-wise by our competitors as an act of spite against the company." Takami replied with a shrug, "As it is, this is just giving Minaka ammo to build a case against his rivals for overcharging MBI. He'll give them more than enough rope to hang themselves with."

"Sneaky and underhanded." Matsu commented.

"Yeah…speaking of that, I assume Matsu has told you about the other three who have multiple Sekirei?" Takami asked.

"Sanada in the West, Higa in the East and Mikogami in the South." Miya replied, a small sneer of distaste at the last two names, "Over twenty Sekirei have been forcibly Winged between Mikogami and Higa, with Sanada Winging only six Sekirei himself, all of whom reacted to him."

"Yep. Higa is CEO one of MBI's direct competitors and is treating the Sekirei Plan as an opportunity to usurp MBI's status as _Primus Inter Pares_ of Japan's -and the world's- businesses." Matsu added, "Mikogami Hayato is the sole heir to a vast fortune. He is a game-obsessed boy who sees the Sekirei Plan as the 'Ultimate Game' and his Sekirei as game pieces, just as Higa sees Winging a Sekirei as a mere business contract. They both have subordinate Ashikabi already, and the Sekirei Plan has only begun."

"With MBI HQ in the centre, they are fairly evenly spread out among three of the four cardinal directions, west, east and south, leaving the northern area of the New Capital vacant…until now." Takami said with a small smile.

"You've deliberately positioned your son to be a major player in the Sekirei Plan." Miya summed up, her eyes locked upon the gray-haired woman, "I would like to know why."

"Minaka is an idiot. An insane idiot." Takami replied flatly, "There is only so much I can do to rein him in myself. Homura is helping to protect the Unwinged Sekirei as best as he can and Matsu has taken one of Minaka's little prizes out of play for the moment. What I hope Minato will become is a wildcard, something that Minaka will have a hard time predicting or controlling. With his sense of honour, he will do his best to stop any plans or situations that would violate it."

"A troubleshooter, one that has no loyalty to MBI." Matsu examined Takami closely, "Why are you willing to put Minato-tan in the line of fire?"

"As I said before, Minato would have become an Ashikabi with or without my interference." Takami replied irritably, "And, with or without my prompting, he would do what he felt was right in any given situation, or rather, he will do what is right, regardless of my prompting or MBI's preferences and interests in the matter."

"You seriously don't trust Minaka." Miya stated, slight incredulity evident in her voice.

"He's kept the Endgame of the Sekirei Plan from me, despite my best attempts." Takami said frankly, "For all I know, he could be planning mass genocide or a eugenics program. Only two people can stop him and one of them is _dead_. The other one is _you_, Miya. As you refuse to get involved however, I have to make best use of what I have at my disposal, up to and including my own son and my own daughter."

Miya just _stared _at Takami, the air around her growing ice cold with the Number 00 Sekirei's silent rage at the insinuation that she was either wilfully blind or uncaring towards the plight of the other Sekirei.

"Takehito…he wanted me to put down my sword." Miya stated coldly, "So I did. That is all there is to it."

"And if he saw what Minaka's been up to recently? The increasing power limiting of the Sekirei? The scarring suffered by Number Seven that turned her into a Scrapped Number?" Takami demanded, "What then Miya? When will it be _suitable justification _for you to **act** instead of removing yourself from the board?"

The two Sekirei at the table flinched away from the scathing tone that Takami used against Miya. They could feel Miya's power fluctuating and roiling with turmoil and anger and were quailing at the sheer amount of power that the Pillar of the Sekirei possessed. Even if they both used their Norito, they wouldn't come close to that level of power!

And yet, despite the fact that Miya could crush her like a bug, Sahashi Takami had the sheer gall to challenge Miya, to call her on her self-imposed neutrality. Part of it was because she was a human, and thus couldn't feel Miya's power.

Another, larger, part was that Takami couldn't care less about Miya's position as the Pillar of the Sekirei. She called people on their bullshit regardless of social positions. Hell, she regularly tried to kill Minaka for his many and varied idiocies.

"Well…that's what I came to say." Takami sighed, "Tell Homura I'll keep him up-to-date on any stupidity of Minaka's as I find out about it. I'll see myself out."

The grey-haired woman got up and nonchalantly walked off, leaving behind a pair of awed and stunned Sekirei and a silent Pillar of the Sekirei in her wake.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

**Next Chapter: A Veil of Wisdom**

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End file.
